{"id":40142,"date":"2026-04-30T16:12:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T13:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/yercekimi-wins-the-short-film-competition-at-the-45th-istanbul-film-festival\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T16:15:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T13:15:57","slug":"yercekimi-wins-the-short-film-competition-at-the-45th-istanbul-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/yercekimi-wins-the-short-film-competition-at-the-45th-istanbul-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYer\u00e7ekimi\u201d Wins the Short Film Competition at the 45th Istanbul Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The winner of the national Short Film Competition, held as part of the 45th Istanbul Film Festival, has been announced. The 11 short films in the competition were evaluated by a jury consisting of director Gizem K\u0131z\u0131l, actor Meri\u00e7 Aral, and director Levent T\u00fcrkan. Following the evaluation, the film \u201cYer\u00e7ekimi,\u201d directed by Dalya Kele\u015f and produced by Didem Nur Yayman\u2014both graduates of the Radio, Television, and Cinema Department\u2014was awarded first prize.<\/p>\n\n

This achievement at the festival, which supports young filmmakers\u2019 work and aims to introduce new talents to Turkish cinema, once again highlighted the graduates\u2019 strong standing in the industry. \u201cYer\u00e7ekimi,\u201d which has also been nominated for the Generation Kplus Shorts Competition 2026 at the Berlin International Film Festival, explores the growing pains and imagination of 12-year-old Deniz.<\/p>\n\n

Following the award ceremony, the film crew shared their thoughts and feelings about this captivating journey:<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe Power of the Story Reflected in Our Performance\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Mustafa Konak, one of the film\u2019s actors, emphasized that the foundation of this success lies in a bold screenplay and effective direction, stating: \u201cThe success our film has achieved is an indescribable feeling for me. I believe it would be a mistake to attribute this success to just one aspect of the process; the story being written with great courage and then successfully brought to the big screen were the two key turning points. I congratulate our mentor Dalya Kele\u015f, who was the architect of these moments. The stronger the story, the more powerful our performances as actors can be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cMy First Big Step Toward My Dreams\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Sudem Berin Din\u00e7, who is experiencing her first acting role, described the filming process as an educational journey of discovery: \u201cThis film was one of the first major steps I\u2019ve taken in my life. The nervousness I felt at first turned into great joy thanks to the chemistry I shared with my co-star Mustafa Konak and the support of our director Dalya Kele\u015f and producer Didem Nur Yayman. \u2018Yer\u00e7ekimi\u2019 isn\u2019t just a film; it\u2019s a very special beginning where I started discovering myself and getting closer to my dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe Story Is Charting Its Own Course\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The film\u2019s producer, Didem Nur Yayman, stated that the greatest reward is seeing a story connect with its audience: \u201cIt is incredibly valuable to see the story we\u2019re trying to tell find such a tangible response. The film we created with hard work and love is growing alongside us. The story is charting its own course, and we\u2019re moving forward with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe Grew Along with the Film\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Director Dalya Kele\u015f, meanwhile, touched on the project\u2019s roots in her university years and its impact on her personal growth: \u201cWhen I look back at the years when I first started working on the project, I can see how much I\u2019ve grown over time. The uniqueness of nurturing a film comes from feeling that you\u2019ve grown alongside it. The journey of the film emerging from me to become its own entity, and reaching its audience to evoke emotions, is truly a magical process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

We congratulate the \u201cYer\u00e7ekimi\u201d team and the young filmmakers who have brought us pride with their achievements, and wish them continued success.<\/p>\n\n

Istanbul Film Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (\u0130KSV), the Istanbul Film Festival\u2014Turkey\u2019s longest-running and most prestigious film event\u2014opened its curtains for the 45th time this year. Offering a wide range of programming, from distinguished examples of world cinema to the excitement of the national competition, the festival once again transformed Istanbul into a meeting point for the global film industry.<\/p>\n\n

Continuing uninterrupted since 1982, the Istanbul Film Festival retains its status as one of the few events worldwide recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in the \u201cspecial-themed, competitive festival\u201d category. By bringing films that have had their world premieres at major events like Cannes, Berlin, and Venice to audiences in Turkey, the festival facilitates the integration of local cinema culture with international standards.<\/p>\n\n

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The winner of the national Short Film Competition, held as part of the 45th Istanbul Film Festival, has been announced. The 11 short films in the competition were evaluated by a jury consisting of director Gizem K\u0131z\u0131l, actor Meri\u00e7 Aral, and director Levent T\u00fcrkan. Following the evaluation, the film \u201cYer\u00e7ekimi,\u201d directed by Dalya Kele\u015f and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Winner of the 45th Istanbul Film Festival Short Film Competition: Gravity","description":"At the 45th Istanbul Film Festival, the film \u201cGravity,\u201d directed by graduates of Kadir Has University, won the Best Short Film Award."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,23],"tags":[466,467,464,465,468],"birimler":[80,38,77],"class_list":["post-40142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-student-successes","tag-45th-istanbul-film-festival","tag-berlin-international-film-festival-generation-kplus-2026","tag-dalya-keles-en","tag-didem-nur-yayman-en","tag-short-film","birimler-comm","birimler-khas-homepage","birimler-rtc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40143,"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40142\/revisions\/40143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40142"},{"taxonomy":"birimler","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khas.edu.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/birimler?post=40142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}